Our Formation In Christ | Part 3

The goal of Christ and the Holy Spirit is to present every believer perfect, holy, fully mature in Christ. There are different kinds of maturity, i.e. physical maturity, intellectual maturity, psychological maturity, and spiritual maturity. These are all tied together. Being in Christ means having an intimate, connected relationship with him. With salvation we come into union with Christ, but to grow and mature we need to be in communion with him. In our union with his death we are destined to come unto the likeness of who He was after his resurrection. Maturity in Christ means effortlessly and naturally thinking his thoughts, acting like him, responding like him; that being your normal way of life. In the process of becoming mature, the role and involvement of the Holy Spirit is critical and vital. The Holy Spirit is God’s light, empowerment, enabler, and purifier. We need to stay sensitive and obedient to his voice. God’s top priority is not our comfort, but rather our character. He loves us too much to leave us in a state of immaturity, and adverse circumstances are often there for us to practically apply the Word while the character of Christ is formed within us, our sanctification and holiness being a lifelong process. Jesus is our model for love, obedience, humility, virtue and moral blamelessness, steadfastness, and the way in which he was totally dependent on- and co-operated with the Holy Spirit. The worldview of the Holy Spirit is to form a community of holy, transformed people living in a kingdom whereof the first citizen is God, who is energising everything. From eternity past God’s goal has always been for us to be like Christ, it is his present activity, and He will continue until the end, to bring that to a conclusion.